TIRANA, Albania – The MARRI Regional Centre in Skopje and the Albanian Ministry of Interior jointly organised the seminar “Citizenship legislation and practices – overview of the state of the affairs in MARRI Member States, ” held in Tirana, Albania on 20 February 2009.
This seminar was organised thanks to kind financial contribution of the Czech Republic, whereas the Czech Republic is currently presiding over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The population movements in the MARRI Member States’ region caused by the dissolution of former Yugoslavia, resulted in necessity to consider important citizenship issues for both individuals and states, in particular in identifying additional measures to deal with problems regarding citizenship. Nexus between the state and its citizens, and consequently the state’s obligation under international law towards their citizens ranging from the provisioning of protection for its citizens abroad and recognizing the status of those natural persons who enjoy the legal bond with the state in the capacity of the citizens, implies certain duties on the part of the state in accordance with the national legislation, international law and basic human rights.
The European Commission considered that this is an area where there might be a need for additional activities which will result in collecting information on the legislation and practices of MARRI Member States as concerning citizenship. In that respect, the seminar will be organised and thus collected information could serve as a basis for regional assessment of the actual scope of challenges the MARRI Member States are facing in their efforts to adopt standards and practices necessary for successful Implementation of the Law for the Citizenship and development of more effective interventions and policies.
Seminar was opened by H.E. Mr. Gent Strazimiri, Deputy Minister of Interior of the Republic of Albania. It gathered participants from MARRI Member States’ national institutions dealing with implementation of the citizenship legislation (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia). Relevant national delegation representatives with extensive experience in the seminar topic gave an update of the progress made, share dexperiences, discussed problems, and set recommendations and expectations for the future.
The participants were shortly acquainted with Council of Europe Conventions, Resolutions, Recommendations in the field of Nationality, as well as relevant international instruments on nationality (see relevant links on the official pages of the Council of Europe).
The EU expert from Slovenia (Dr. Mitja Zagar) contributed from EU perspective, drawing on the international expertise and experience. His role was to share EU best practices and experiences in the implementation of the citizenship legislation.
Representatives from the international organizations/agencies (ICMPD, RCC, SEPCA, UNHCR, UNDP) were invited as well. They presented their view on their role in the field of citizenship, with special focus on international legal standards, statelessness, refugees, vulnerable groups as well as protection of human rights.
Therefore, overall objective of the Seminar was to identify sustainable solutions for important citizenship issues in the field of the citizenship legislation and practices, by assisting MARRI Member States in working together and thus promoting stability in the region, to the benefit of both individuals and states.
